Interpretation centres to come up at twenty five monuments

New Delhi: Moving forward in its mission to bring heritage closer to tourists under the Adarsh Smarak initiative, the Centre has decided to set up interpretation centres at 25 of the most-visited monuments in the country.

The concept, on the lines of facilities available at monuments in other parts of the world, envisages on-site enclosures for visitors to get an insight into various aspects of the monument through an audio-visual medium.

"There would be chambers with seating arrangement for anywhere between 25 to 40 visitors. The significance of respective heritage structure would be showcased in it," Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma said.

Noting that the potential of Indian monuments is yet to be completely explored by tourists, he said visitors at such centres will get to know about the importance of the heritage monuments through the facility.

"Such chamber facilities are available in several monuments in different parts of the world," Sharma said.

The Ministry of Culture has already identified 25 Model Monuments including Taj Mahal in Agra, Elephanta Caves in Mumbai and Humayun's Tomb in Delhi for developing them as model monuments under the Adarsh Smarak (Model Monuments) initiative.

These monuments would also be provided necessary tourist facilities including Wi-Fi, security, signages and encroachment-free area, as part of the initiative.

It may also be recalled that the Archaeological Survey of India had recently launched e-ticketing facility for Taj Mahal and Humayun's Tomb, which attracts large number of visitors.